Preparing for fewer lifeguards at beach

It happened fast. I was swimming by the South Mission Beach jetty, where they’re known to form.

Before I knew it, I was more than 100 yards offshore. The water was cold, the ocean was choppy, my arms were weary. But thank goodness, next to me was a city of San Diego lifeguard.

He was teaching me how to clear a rip.

When caught in one, first thing, you’re not supposed to panic.

But I’m nothing if not panicky. You tell me not to panic, first thing, I panic.

My heart rate has been climbing ever since I learned that our beaches might be more dangerous this summer because of the recent winter and spring storms. Holes and trenches were formed offshore. Rip currents could be worse because of them.

Also, because of budget problems, some lifeguard agencies have cut back. San Diego will have two lifeguards at Black’s Beach this summer, instead of the six or seven that normally were there.

So I figured the closest I’d get to the beach this summer would be Santee.

Then I got a bright idea …

I wanted to learn what it’s like, so if I get caught in one, I just might not panic.

And it might provide you — if you’re like me, just an average swimmer who hits the beach in the summer on weekends — with some key tips and observations.

I met with Troy Keach, who’s been a lifeguard for 29 years and who’s made hundreds of rescues in his career. And I asked him to put me in one hairy rip. This took a while because he took my request very seriously. We first rode up and down Mission and Pacific beaches, with him saying, “That’s a good one. But let’s see if we can do better.”

Rips are everywhere along our beaches. And they are hazardous. Annually, city lifeguards perform 5,000 rescues, with as many as 80 percent being for people caught in rip currents.

Those caught are average swimmers like me, probably. Mostly, they rely on instinct, which is not good. Instinct tells you to head to shore, where safety lies. But swimming against the rip is exactly the wrong thing to do. You make no headway. You get exhausted. You can drown. Nationally, as many 100 people drown in them each year.

In March at Torrey Pines State Beach, two people were swept away, with one drowning. Lifeguards had just gone off duty.

B. Chris Brewster, who used to head the San Diego Lifeguard Service and is now president of the United States Lifesaving Association, said panic is almost impossible to avoid.

“It’s a primordial, unavoidable emotional reaction,” he said. “It’s like telling somebody who’s in an airplane that’s about to crash not to panic.”

So what do you do?

“Think of things you can do,” Brewster said, such as treading water. “You can tread water for a long time. You can’t fight a current for a very long time.”

Lifeguards are key, too, he said. They’re higher up in stands and can spot rip currents more easily. And rescuing people from them “is quite routine and pretty simple.”

You can sometimes tell rips by the look of the wave action, Keach said. Waves coming in a full, classic form don’t pose a problem. It’s the absence of waves that can signal a rip current.

Indeed, the ocean water that looks the calmest can be the most dangerous. A rip is just a whole bunch of water rushing back to the ocean after coming to shore. It needs to go back, of course. If there’s a channel, such as a break in a sandbar, it rushes there. And it’ll take people with it.

Keach found one he liked along Mission Beach, so the two of us jumped in. We got past the breakers and found ourselves in a dead wave spot in the water. I felt a pull, but not a strong one. Keach was aiming for something stronger.

We got out and found another one. It was the same story — just a little tug.

So we went to the South Mission Beach jetty, where rip currents are a given. The escaping ocean water rushes along the side of it. We jumped in. We began treading water. And we started moving … fast.

Did I panic? Well …

When I looked at how far out I was, I got spooked, but I also knew I had an experienced lifeguard a few yards from me.

He told me to swim parallel to the beach and to take my time doing so. Stop and tread water if necessary. There’s no rush. And that’s what I did.

And I soon caught a couple of waves, which took me to where I could stand. Solid ground.

Off duty, without the lifeguard escort, I wouldn’t even put my big toe in the water.